diff --git a/heartbeat/podman-etcd b/heartbeat/podman-etcd
index 242226bb1..853f7d1a6 100755
--- a/heartbeat/podman-etcd
+++ b/heartbeat/podman-etcd
@@ -737,8 +737,8 @@ archive_data_folder()
 
 etcd_pod_container_exists() {
 	local count_matches
-	# Check whether the etcd pod exists on the same node (header line included)
-	count_matches=$(crictl pods --label app=etcd -q | xargs -I {} crictl ps --pod {} -o json | jq -r '.containers[].metadata | select ( .name == "etcd" ).name' | wc -l)
+	# Check whether the etcd pod exists on the same node (including stopped/exited containers)
+	count_matches=$(crictl pods --label app=etcd -q | xargs -I {} crictl ps -a --pod {} -o json | jq -r '.containers[].metadata | select ( .name == "etcd" ).name' | wc -l)
 	if [ "$count_matches" -eq 1 ]; then
 		# etcd pod found
 		return 0